Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
Want to recieve exclusive news, videos, tournament highlights, golf important tips and more ?
As the daughter of a PGA Professional, Chantal Hodson knew little more than golf in her formative years.
When she and her brother Reece would return him from school when Bruce was the Head Professional at Kangaroo Valley Golf and Country Club in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, the golf course was their playground.
Even when the family moved to Bathurst in the Central West of NSW, Bruce built a range on the property so that golf was always on hand.
Encouraged by her father and sick of following Reece around as he played in junior golf tournaments, Chantal started playing competitively, making such an impression that by 14 she was invited to play Junior Pennants for The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.
After completing school her father hooked her up with an old mate in Bill Exten at New South Wales Golf Club but midway through her three-year traineeship Chantal could feel a shift in the path she wanted her career in golf to take.
“When I was doing my traineeship I had the opportunity to coach quite a bit so I was really at a crossroads for a long time in what I wanted to do in terms of coaching or going down the management stream,” says Chantal, who is currently employed as the Manager of Golf Operations at Royal Sydney Golf Club.
“It was a really hard decision because I like both so much and there’s obviously such a huge market for a female coach in the current climate.
“That’s the beauty of the trainee program. You’ve got so many different avenues that you can take and work out exactly what you want to do.
“It was a hard decision for a long time but once I got the job at Royal Sydney it was pretty clear that I wanted to move into the management side of things and progress down that line.
“I certainly had a couple of different options up my sleeve and been lucky enough to work at a really good club and in a position to progress and move forward with my career.”
Given her father’s 50-year association with the PGA, it was a pathway with obvious appeal for Chantal once she completed schooling in Bathurst.
“At the time I’d come out of school and played so much golf that I was actually a little bit burnt out,” Chantal explains.
“At a younger age I probably just assumed that I’d go overseas and play on tour but when I thought about the trainee program – Dad always spoke so highly of the PGA – it just seemed to make sense.
“I worked casually at Antill Park under Bret Chappell for a year and then the position came up at New South.
“At that time Bill was running the business within a big club and he ran that business really well. HIs 2IC had just left so I was lucky to be given quite a lot of responsibility early and progressed in my role quite quickly.
“I had the opportunity to coach and I was part of the launch of the cadet program and was on the committee for that when it started and helped facilitate and coach that.
“I was lucky enough to have access to coaching and Bill had the confidence in me to give me the time to coach and the time to practise and play.
“We had a great working relationship and he gave me the leeway to teach and I had a fair bit of responsibility which was good for my growth.
“I’ve been quite fortunate with my career and the timing of it all.”
Although Chantal has gravitated toward the management area of the golf industry, she doesn’t want to ever lose direct connection with the game and the people that play it.
“Director of Golf at a private club is the goal,” Chantal says.
“Management is the domain that I found my feet in but I love the relationship with members and always want to keep that.
“The ability to go and play golf, do the odd clinic and coaching component, club-fitting, all that sort of stuff I still really enjoy and that close relationship with golf.”
Applications for the PGA Membership Pathway Program open on July 1. For more information, visit pga.org.au/education.
Two weeks ago, ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Brad Kennedy was informed that he was exempt into this week’s US Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Here Kennedy’s coach and Sanctuary Cove PGA Professional Michael Jones explains what has happened since and their hopes and expectations for a strong showing. With Tony Webeck.
It was a big change when we found out. Brad went from playing the Japan Golf Tour with a start at The Open Championship to being exempt into the US Open and another likely start at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational. He might even play a couple of Korn Ferry Tour events while he is in the US. It snowballed rather quickly and we’ve had a fair few conversations about preparation and how to stay fresh.
I spoke to Brad on Tuesday morning and Torrey Pines is set up pretty challenging, as you’d expect. Fairways that are 22 yards wide, rough that is two-foot thick and where the ball drops to the bottom. It’s one of the tougher courses that Brad has played but we’re putting a game-plan together for how best to tackle it.
At any big tournament the big danger is running your race before it even begins. Preservation of mental energy is crucial so that you can get to the first tee on Thursday with some energy on board. These kinds of tournaments are the highest level we have in golf so if all your wits are not about you it is hard work. The key is stay healthy and mentally fresh while he works on his game.
Around a course such as Torrey Pines the short game is a very important component along with hitting the fairway. Finding the fairway is going to be the No.1 priority because Brad said that if you’re in the rough, you might as well just grab a wedge and hack it out.
Coming from Japan to the US Open, obviously the golf course is a lot different. There are a lot of people around and the golf course is set-up unbelievably well. The greens are immaculate and the fairways look like they’ve got vacuum cleaners on them. He said it’s pretty easy to work out that this is one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world.
The traditional style of golf course in Japan is not overly long but the fairways are so tight you can barely fit a ball down them. At the Japan Open they set the course up next to impossible which by all reports is very similar to a US Open set-up. Brad likes to play a hard golf course. He excels mentally when he has to make sure his ball’s going exactly where he needs it to go. He doesn’t like when bombers can hit it 350 left or right and still have a swing.
Sherwood Country Club where they played the ZOZO Championship last year was a 7,700-yard golf course and not that different to Torrey Pines. He said in a text that they’re not going to hit you off the back chocks and put you in the hardest pins in rounds one and two but by round three or four all bets are off. If they shoot 6 or 7-under, that might be a winning score. I know the USGA won’t want to see too many 65s around there so it’s going to be a real grind and mental test. Brad’s very good mentally in his strategy and his decision-making is excellent.
Shishido Hills Country Club is a 7,700 yard golf course where they play the Japan Tour Championship and Brad’s played really well there including finishing runner-up in 2015. He plays really good par golf, gets the odd birdie here and there and is quite competitive. That’s going to be the mindset for this week and why the mental energy is going to be one of the most important factors.
On Monday afternoon he spent time on the putting green working on his speed control and touch around the greens. He says some of the pin positions that they will get them in will certainly test your nervous system. He’s heard that keeping the ball below the hole is a big thing at Torrey Pines; if you get above the hole the greens are pretty quick.
The big thing for Brad the past few years is that he has got used to playing in world-class events where the best are in attendance. Whether it be the ZOZO, the British Open, any of the big ones in Japan, it’s not new to him that Dustin will walk by or Louis is on the putting green. He’s seen them all before and to a certain degree he’s competed. He’ll be rising to the challenge that’s for sure.
As his coach, I’m just proud that he has got to this level of golf. You’re trying to get the person you’re coaching to the highest level they can reach. I caddied for Brad at The Open at Royal Lytham in 2012 and been to a few of the bigger tournaments but the US Open is one that I’m sure, in the back of his head, he was hoping he’d have the chance to play for the challenge and the severity of it all.
Two icons of Australian golf have been recognised for their contribution to the game in this country by receiving the Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list announced on Monday.
Revolutionary golf coach Gary Edwin and the late David Mercer were both recipients of OAMs for Services to Golf, due recognition for more than 120 years combined as PGA Professionals helping elite and amateur players to get the most out of their golf.
A PGA Professional since 1961, Edwin developed a methodology that became known as the Right Sided Swing and guided players to more than $100 million in career earnings… and counting.
Christened Gary Edwin Player, constant confusion and derision caused by the emergence of the South African great during the early days of his own playing career convinced the Australian to make his own name.
Taking inspiration from the swings of Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle and Ben Hogan, Edwin’s swing theory found success quickly, guiding the likes of Peter Lonard, Paul Gow, Rod Pampling, Nathan Green and Gavin Coles to the heights of the PGA TOUR and breathed new life into Peter Senior’s game when he considered quitting in the wake of his 1997 Canon Challenge win.
World Golf Hall of Famer Jan Stephenson is another Edwin disciple and the Gold Coast coach synonymous for his all-black attire has also worked with Major champions Ian Baker-Finch and Michael Campbell.
Pleasantly surprised by the nod – “They’ve been sending me e-mails for a couple of years but we never answered them because we thought they were hoaxes” – the 2006 Australian Teaching Professional of the Year said he has endeavoured to make not only players better but also fellow coaches.
“I got into teaching to make coaching better,” said Edwin, conceding that he was initially motivated to improve his own “horrendous” swing.
“I’ve had a little bit of influence on a lot of guys that now teach the game so that’s probably the biggest thrill that I get out of it.
“My two boys are good golfers and are in the industry with me so I’m very proud of that, too.
“Just generally trying to make coaching better and to help other coaches, because coaching golf isn’t easy.
“The game is so great for all of us. Socially, exercise-wise, the people we meet and seeing people get better.
“Coaches all feel better when they make people better and improve their golf. Improving people’s golf makes their life better, particularly if they play golf a lot.
“I’ve had a great life because of golf.”
Measuring the impact of David Mercer in his 68 years as a PGA of Australia Professional is next to impossible.
One of eight children – including brother Alex, another iconic figure in Australian golf – Mercer’s earliest introduction to golf was picking out balls to sell for pocket money at nearby North Ryde Golf Club and he began his traineeship in 1951.
In 1953 Mercer was appointed the Head Professional at Killara Golf Club and would spend the next 43 years endearing himself to every member who walked through his pro shop door.
While his putter would prove to be his Achilles heel, Mercer bested Open champions Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle to claim the Killara Cup shortly after becoming the club’s head professional, twice won the NSW PGA Foursomes Championship with close friend Len Woodward (1958 and 1967) and led the qualifying at Lundin Links to play his way into the 1973 Open Championship at Royal Troon.
After starting his traineeship under Alex Greg Hohnen completed his training under David and would become his business partner and ultimately successor at Killara, carrying forward his legacy of imparting a deep love of the game.
“He had incredible knowledge of the game, but lessons with Dave were centred around enjoying the game no matter what your handicap was,” Hohnen said on Mercer’s passing on September 12, 2020.
“He would tell people, ‘You’re going to get a lot of enjoyment out of the game, you’re going to meet a lot of great people and you’re going to have a lot of fun’.
“Not everyone is going to be a great player, but as long as they enjoy their game of golf, that’s the No.1 priority.”
When the field gathered for the 65th staging of the US Open at Bellerive Country Club near St Louis, Missouri, columnists such as Alfred Wright from Sports Illustrated prepared for a parade of new wave of powerful punishers at what at the time was the longest golf course America’s grandest championship had ever seen.
“It was a bad week for the close-your-eyes-and-hit boys,” Wright would later pen.
After 45 consecutive years of American leaderboard superiority, it was a diminutive South African with a will as strong as steel and a gentle giant from Sydney five years removed from his greatest triumph who turned what would be 90 holes of championship golf into a two-horse race.
WHAT CAME BEFORE
Winner of the first of his four US Opens three years earlier at Oakmont Country Club, the accepted consensus was that the 7,191-yard Bellerive Country Club layout would play directly into the hands of “Ohio bomber” and recent Masters champion, Jack Nicklaus.
Requiring only the US Open trophy to complete the career Grand Slam before the age of 30, South African terrier Gary Player was never one to be discounted while Australia’s representation was led by the likes of US residents Bruce Crampton and Bruce Devlin and the 44-year-old Champion Golfer of 1960, Kel Nagle.
Although revered for his record in the Open Championship, Nagle had taken his game to North America with some success, winning the 1964 Canadian Open and finishing tied for 15th at The Masters in the months prior to arriving at Bellerive.
HOW IT UNFOLDED
When Nagle posted 2-under 68 in his opening round to assume the outright lead, golf’s earliest statisticians began thumbing through the record books.
No foreigner had prised the US Open trophy from American hands since England’s Ted Ray in 1920 while at 44 years of age and six months Nagle was on track to become the oldest winner in the championship’s history.
While former US PGA champion Jim Ferrier struggled to an 82 and promptly withdrew citing a bad back, Nagle used nous and shot-making to ride the gusty north-easterly winds to a one-stroke advantage from then amateur and future PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman and Mason Rudolph.
“I’m 44 and don’t expect to get any longer,” Nagle told The Morning Call newspaper.
“If the wind and the weather stay this way, maybe I can stay up there.”
It would be Player who assumed the lead at the halfway point of the tournament with a second straight round of even-par 70, Nagle’s 73 that included three bogeys early in his back nine saw him fall to a share of second, a shot behind Player.
While the expectation was that big hitters such as Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer would dominate, Player offered an explanation for the international look at the top of the leaderboard.
“The foreign players learn to hit the ball straighter,” Player said. “In our countries, we have all this rough that you just would not believe, and you have absolutely no chance unless you can hit the ball straight. So we learn to hit it straight first. Then we learn to hit it a little harder.”
Nagle and Player went back and forth in Saturday’s third round, Nagle’s score of 72 adjusted on the 18th hole when it was decided that he should have been granted a free drop in swamp area on the par-4 12th. The Pymble Crusher’s decision to play his original ball – with which he made bogey – and a provisional with which he made par proved to be a prudent one, keeping him within one of Player heading into the final round.
Sunday looked set to be a South African procession and coronation of Player’s career Grand Slam until a dramatic twist in the tail in the final throes of competition.
Three strokes back with three to play, Nagle’s birdie at the par-5 17th – dubbed by Jack Nicklaus earlier in the week as “the toughest par 5 in golf” – and Player’s double-bogey at the 16th sent the crowd of 18,000 into a mix of stunned silence and excitable exasperation.
Player missed a birdie putt at 17 to regain the lead and saw a putt from 30 feet pull up just inches from the cup on the 72nd hole… in the exact same spot Nagle had missed just minutes earlier that would have won him the title.
The resulting tie sent the 1965 US Open into an extra day as the pair faced off in an 18-hole playoff in front of close to 7,000 fans.
Unfortunately for Nagle, the championship turned again towards Player when one of nature’s true gentlemen hit two female spectators as he played the fifth hole of the playoff.
“The fifth hole turned out to be the ball game,” Nagle told The Evening Standard.
“You have no idea how awful I felt after I hit that lady with my tee shot.
“I was never really in it anymore after that.”
Able to cruise home when he opened up a five-stroke lead with only two holes to play, Player would ultimately shoot 71 to Nagle’s 74 and promptly returned his $25,000 prize money to the USGA with instructions to give $5,000 to American Cancer Research and to use $20,000 for the promotion of junior golf.
“The people of the United States have been so wonderful to me that I wanted to do a little something in return.”
WHAT FOLLOWED
The fourth of his nine Major championships, Player was unable to win the US Open again in his career, winning the Open Championship twice more (1968, 1974) the Masters twice more (1974, 1978) and a second US PGA Championship (1972) to round out one of golf’s truly great careers.
A five-time winner on the Australasian circuit in 1965, Nagle would continue to be a dominant force well into his 50s, finishing tied for second at the 1975 Australian PGA Championship at 55 years of age.
He had success on the seniors circuit in the UK and twice won the World Senior Championship, defeating the American Seniors Championship winners Julius Boros 4&3 in 1971 and Charlie Sifford 1 up in 1975. Nagle also took Sam Snead to 41 holes in 1973 before falling to the American legend.
In July 2007 Nagle was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame and in 2019 he was named a PGA Immortal.
Nagle died on January 29, 2015 at 94 years of age.
A full member since 1980, Mark Gibson was recently awarded Life Membership of the PGA of Australia. Here he reflects on his beginnings in the game, his greatest influences and the two mantras that have served him well.
I’ve had a pretty long career as a PGA Professional and when you see the people that are the icons of the game – the people that motivated you, that mentored you – they’re the people who have been awarded Life Membership. You’re in a group of people who I would consider have been very special to golf and to receive that honour did choke me up a little bit. When you look at someone like ‘The Von’, or Kel Nagle, ‘Thommo’, Charlie Earp, Alex and David Mercer, they’re very special people who have contributed so much to the game so to be held as a peer of theirs is an incredible honour.
I started caddying for my dad when I was about five. I used to push the buggy for three holes, sit on the bag for a couple and then push it a bit further. My mum was born in Edinburgh so she had golf in her family and she gave me a voucher for a lesson for my sixth birthday. Before I left for school that morning I asked her to organise it so that I could use it that day. I came home from school and she took me out to the golf club and a PGA Member by the name of Reg Want was our Professional at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads Golf Club.
Mr Want was a great player. Today he still holds the record for the most wins in the Queensland PGA so here I am in 1964 having a golf lesson with a guy who was brilliant, well mannered, well dressed… He was an inspiration. I couldn’t have been more excited by meeting someone. That was my introduction and he was the perfect mentor.
Mr Want’s first apprentice was Charlie Earp and I was Reg’s last apprentice. Even when I went to visit him about three weeks before he passed away and I had my own business by then, he was still Mr Want.
When I was 11 he asked my dad whether I could have the day off school to caddy for ‘The Von’. The Von was playing Coolangatta-Tweed with three businessmen and we got to our 17th hole, which was the eighth and he said, ‘Son, get a dozen balls out of my bag.’ So I pulled out a box of Penfold Aces on the tee of this 143-yard par 3 and he said, ‘Give me a 9-iron.’ He hit a 9-iron onto the green. He said, ‘Give me an 8-iron.’ He hit an 8-iron onto the green. Seven-iron, 6-iron, 5-iron, 4-iron, 3-iron, 2-iron. ‘Son, get me the 4-wood.’ The 3-wood. Driver. He hit 12 balls with 12 different clubs and every single one of them finished on the green. I was awestruck.
I started my traineeship at the end of 1975 and I have met so many inspirational PGA Members. People you can admire, people who are motivational. We are blessed with the stock that we have of PGA Professionals. The role that they played in getting me motivated, I have to pay it forward. I have to do the same thing for the young kids that I encounter.
Mr Want was going to retire so he asked me to stay on as his Assistant for the last 12 months of his career. When I finished with Mr Want, Charlie Earp rang me and said he needed me to come and work for him for a period of time because he wanted to go overseas for an extended holiday with Margie the following year. So I went and worked for Charlie for 18 months or so. My first pro job I went to Gladstone in Central Queensland and was there for almost five years. That was the toughest joint I’d ever been to in my life. Then I went and worked with Ian Triggs at Keppera for just over a year and then I got the pro’s job at Pine Rivers north of Brisbane and was the pro there for five years. From there I went to Caloundra and was the pro there for five-and-a-half years.
It was during my time at Caloundra that it became clear to me that I wanted to teach full-time. I was doing a lot more teaching than I was being a club pro and I just knew that I wanted to teach full-time. Then I came back to Royal Pines as the Head Professional for five years from November 1994, I went to Lakelands Golf Club for seven years and then in 2006 came back to run the teaching facility here at Royal Pines, and I’ve been here ever since.
I love teaching and every lesson I give I try and give it so that it’s the best lesson that person’s ever had. Whether they’ve had previous lessons with me or not, I want the lesson they have with me today to be the best lesson they can have ever.
I always wanted to teach because I’d been inspired by Mr Want and by other people who were great coaches that I’d run into. I went to a camp that was sponsored by Rothmans and Ron Luxton was the coach that was employed by Rothmans. I always wanted to coach and it crystallised a little bit in early ‘76. I went to my first trainee event at Coomera Golf Club and I had a 7.10am tee time. Being your first event you don’t want to get penalised for being late to the tee so I walked down to the first tee with the group in front of me. This guy walks onto the tee and hits this tee shot with a sound that I’d never heard and with a ball flight that I’d never seen. And that was Greg Norman. The immediate thought to me was, Christ, I hope I can teach good. I’d never even fantasised about hitting it that good.
There are two things that I live my life by. I’ve got a saying on my desk that says, ‘Those who dare to teach, must never cease to learn.’ I’ve lived by that every day since it went on my desk in 1990. The second one is, ‘People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.’ If kids know that you genuinely care about their future and their golf, I don’t ever have an age-gap problem. There have been challenges with a few of them but I don’t think I need to change what I’m doing to deal with them.
The PGA of Australia has given everyone the opportunity to have the knowledge to be a good teacher but I do think a lot of it comes back to your ability to communicate it. I enjoy teaching people who are new to the game, I enjoy teaching club golfers that want to improve because they’re the ones that really enjoy the game.
One of the greatest things you can do as a coach is to listen. I don’t only ask students what they want, I watch their reactions to what they’re doing. That’s pretty important. You’ve got to keep your eye on the student and read them. They’ll give you the best information without even mentioning it.
I had seven weeks of lockdown last year where I didn’t get to come to work. I said to my wife when I went back that I don’t think there’ll ever be a time when I don’t do some coaching. The wife and I travel well together and there are a million places we haven’t been yet but I’m always going to want to teach. I’m always going to want to get out there and enjoy it. After that seven weeks I knew there’d never be a time when I don’t coach.
I’m not helping people as much as I’m helping the game grow. It’s the game that I really love. I want people to enjoy the game and let’s be honest, is there any greater way to make a living than sharing the game that you love in the fresh air and sunshine of the Gold Coast knowing at the end of the day you’re happy to go home, knowing that in the morning when you wake up you’re happy to go to work? Tell me I haven’t got it better than most.
Birdies at each of his two closing holes has secured Tasmania Golf Club PGA Professional Nick White a place at the PGA Professionals Championship Final at Hamilton Island in September.
White, a qualifier at the 2019 Championship Final, finished one stroke clear of resident professional Matt Docking at Royal Hobart Golf Club on Sunday at the Tasmanian PGA Professionals Championship but it took until the very end of his round to edge in front.
A cold and blustery day with a few showers made the start challenging for all players but with Royal Hobart in superb condition they soon found their groove, White’s birdies at 11, 12, 17 and 18 in a round of 3-under 69 ensuring a return to Hamilton Island.
Docking too earned a place in the field at the Championship Final with his round of 1-under 70 with Scott Priest and Scott Laycock sharing third place with rounds of 1-over 73.
Immediately following play the Annual State Meeting was held with Docking becoming the new Chairman of the Tasmanian State Committee, taking over from Steve Frith who stepped down after nine years as Chairman. Simon Weston was also elevated to Vice-Chairman.
Rounding out a big couple of days, Docking then backed up on Monday to win the 14th Doug Murray Tasmanian PGA Foursomes at Claremont Golf Club, pairing with Laycock to win by five shots.
Played over 27 holes, Docking and Laycock completed their round at 2-over 107, the teams of Bryce Gorham and Peter Freeland and Darren Spencer and Ty Ebdon sharing second place at 7-over 112.
Wembley Golf Course General Manager Josh Madden intends to tap into the knowledge base of PGA Professionals at the grassroots level to help drive the game forward in his new role as Member Director of the PGA of Australia.
Madden’s addition to the PGA Board was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting and provides a direct connection between the PGA Professionals delivering the game across the country and the highest levels of decision-making within the PGA.
Golf has experienced an explosion in popularity in the past 18 months and Madden is adamant that if we are to maintain that level of interest and continue to grow then the input of PGA Professionals will be vital.
“Retention and engagement are going to be so important in the next few years to capitalise on the growth that we’ve seen,” said Madden, the 2020 PGA National Management Professional of the Year.
“We have a really great opportunity to grow right now and I’m confident that PGA Members are the key providers in this space.
“If we can engage and help people to enjoy this great game no matter the version they try first – whether it’s mini golf, the driving range or par 3 courses – we have a great chance to shift our participation numbers.
“If we can get people to enjoy this great game half as much as PGA Members do then we’ll be looking good into the future.”
A full member of the PGA since 2008 having completed the Membership Pathway Program at Surfers Paradise Golf Club, Madden spent eight years working for the PGA itself including close to three years as the State Manager for Western Australia and South Australia.
A member of the WA committee for the past three years, Madden believes that there is insight within PGA Professionals that only comes from working at the coalface.
“I’ve worked internally for the PGA and I know how dedicated the team are but, when you aren’t doing it day in day out in the pro shop priorities change, and I now totally understand that,” Madden said.
“We need to listen to the members because they see and feel the marketplace and what customers are hearing and experiencing.
“Before the surveys are collated the PGA Members behind the counter and on the lesson tee know what’s happening. The difficulty is listening to that undercurrent and providing strategies that can work in regional areas, public golf and then private courses.
“It’s not easy, and we are bound to make mistakes trying to encompass everyone’s needs. That doesn’t mean we give up, we just have to keep refining the offering and keep learning and pushing.”
Although he has his own ideas and philosophies that he wants to bring to the boardroom, Madden said a key aspect of his role will be to bring to light the wonderful initiatives being instituted by PGA Professionals throughout Australia.
“I don’t have a monopoly on good ideas so I really try to listen and learn from all of the Members that I talk to and make decisions based on good information,” he added.
“We all have different career perspectives and experiences which shape our thoughts and the way we interact. I know my career experiences are unique and I hope that my perspective is able to make a difference.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge and really hope I can help.”
Michael Draper completed the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program with distinction at the end of 2020. On January 1 this year, the 2019 Western Australian PGA Trainee of the Year started work as the Head PGA Professional at Albany Golf Club at the state’s southern tip.
There can be no more rapid ascension but Draper credits the mentorship of long-time Albany Professional Ian Redmond, General Manager Dan Northcott and his background in the WA Police Force for making a smooth transition into the top job.
An outstanding junior soccer player who played for Fremantle Spirit with dreams of being elevated to the Perth Glory A-League squad, Draper graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Sports Administration at the time of the GFC in 2008.
Unable to find employment in a slumping economy, Draper spent three years in a graduate tax accounting role before he and his wife spent 18 months doing voluntary work at a children’s home in Cambodia.
When he returned to Perth, Draper joined the Police Force and after six months at the Academy was stationed in Albany, a twist of fate that has led him to become the local golf club’s Head Professional.
“By the time I moved to Albany in 2015 I was playing off a 5 handicap and won a couple of club championships,” Draper recalls.
“All the stars aligned really. Ian Redmond was looking to take a step back so I approached Ian and the pro shop manager in 2017 for a position and they agreed to take me on as a trainee.
“With my police background and a uni degree they knew I wouldn’t have a drama with the academic stuff as long as I applied myself and so I started in January 2018.
“If I wasn’t in Albany I don’t know that I would have been able to do it and be where I am now.”
Like his training for the police force, Draper’s promotion was discussed early in his commencement of the Membership Pathway Program.
Given the breadth of knowledge of both Redmond and Northcott and his own life experience and education, Draper felt fully equipped to transition from trainee to all of the responsibilities that come with being a PGA Professional.
“You need that mentorship as a police officer because they basically throw you in at the deep end. There’s only so much you can learn in six months at the Academy,” says the now 34-year-old.
“One of the things that I was really fortunate with was that I firstly had a mentor in Ian who had been in the game a while so he was really helpful for any questions I had in regards to assessments.
“And then I had Dan, the pro shop manager who moved into the General Manager’s role during my traineeship, who had worked for Mizuno Golf as a state rep in WA for 20 years so the merchandising and the sales aspect of the traineeship.
“It was like it was all covered. I had a mentor close to me for every aspect that I could possibly need.
“It helped that I was a mature-age trainee – I was 30 when I started – so a Head Professional role wasn’t going to be as daunting as it might be for a 21 or 22-year-old coming straight out of a traineeship.
“It was always pencilled as part of the succession plan and I’m lucky in that both Dan and Ian are around so I can go to them at any time with any questions I might have.”
Applications for the 2021/22 Membership Pathway Program will be open in July. Head to pga.org.au for more information.
Former Ladies European Tour player Bree Arthur has shown that her game remains sharp by taking out the NSW/ACT PGA Professionals Championship at Twin Creeks Golf and Country Club in Sydney on Tuesday.
Currently the Golf Operations Manager at Royal Canberra Golf Club, Arthur was a three-time winner on the ALPG Tour before spending six seasons in Europe and called on all of that experience in tournament pressure to win in style at Twin Creeks.
Measuring 545 metres at its maximum, the par-5 ninth shaped as a daunting finishing hole for Arthur but she made light work of it, holing out for eagle to close out a round of 5-under 67 and a one-stroke victory that secures a spot at the PGA Professionals Championship Final at Hamilton Island Golf Club in September.
“Really pleased with how I played given I haven’t had too many opportunities to play in the past few months,” said Arthur, who moved from Royal Sydney to Royal Canberra in February.
“It was a bit of a surprise to hole out for eagle on the last hole of the day and to get the win in the end.”
In somewhat extraordinary circumstances the runner-up also came from Arthur’s group, Bathurst’s Dylan Thompson posting a 4-under 68 to also grab one of the 12 spots in the field at Hamilton Island.
Nathan Miller, Larry Austin and Paul Maiolo rounded out the top five but there was a five-way playoff necessary to determine the final two qualifiers for Hamilton Island.
Benjamin Stowe, Nelson Turner, Kurt Stegbauer, Luke O’Carrigan and Andrew Welsford returned to the first hole for the opening hole of the sudden-death playoff with Stowe’s approach shot to a foot ensuring he got the first of the qualifying positions.
With O’Carrigan eliminated at the first hole Turner, Stegbauer and Welsford advanced to the par-3 second where Turner’s shot to 10 feet and subsequent birdie earned the Avondale Golf Club professional the 12th and final spot.
Qualifiers for Championship Final
Bree Arthur
Dylan Thompson
Nathan Miller
Larry Austin
Paul Maiolo
Jordan Widdicombe
Gregory Bayley
Jordan Mullaney
David Paddison
Jack Wilson
Benjamin Stowe
Nelson Turner
Booming. Resurgent. Unprecedented.
Golf’s popularity explosion the past 18 months has been described in a number of different ways but Oatlands Golf Club General Manager Sam Howe is focused on turning golf’s COVID-19 induced boost into long-term prosperity.
Research has shown that membership and participation numbers have increased significantly throughout the country the past 12 months and the experience at Oatlands in Sydney’s northern suburbs has been no different, Howe now turning to PGA Members to ensure the “sugar hit” isn’t followed by a crash.
With the help of Ian James at Retail Tribe, Howe is adopting the mantra at Oatlands of using PGA Professionals as the club’s CEOs – Chief Engagement Officers – and is already seeing that translate into a more stable membership.
“The upside for golf in COVID was completely unexpected at the beginning but we were already working towards improving our team of PGA Professionals,” Howe says of Oatlands’ engagement and retention strategy.
“When I started at Oatlands almost three years ago the club had one PGA Professional. We now have five PGA Professionals working here, an Associate Professional and a PGA/IGI diploma graduate.
“We had that ideal configuration just as COVID struck and then suddenly we had a captive audience of golfers with money that they would potentially to put into travel now able to spend it on golf lessons and more time on the golf course.
“We have seen our engagement with the golf professionals – which we measure very closely – increase 1,000 per cent on pre-COVID levels.
“PGA Professionals recognise that the health of the golf club membership equates to healthy lesson revenue. They are willing to do more than just stand on the tee and coach to play their part in building a strong, healthy golf club.
“Sometimes they just need the green light to do it and having a PGA Professional as the General Manager they perhaps feel more inclined to come to me with ideas that will not only increase their revenue from lessons but add value to the golf club as a whole.”
Having completed his traineeship at Muirfield Golf Club, Howe pursued playing for five years before taking the Head Professional position at Glenmore Heritage Valley Golf Club in Sydney’s west.
A management position at a bar and restaurant chain in the UK expanded Howe’s business acumen and after three years as the Director of Golf at Bonnie Doon Golf Club he began searching for opportunities to move into golf club management.
That journey began at Woollahra Golf Club before working as the Assistant Manager under Cathy Neagle at Elanora Country Club, Neagle’s encouragement ultimately convincing Howe to apply for the job at Oatlands in January 2019.
A vocal proponent of having PGA Professionals in management positions at golf clubs, Howe has no doubt that expanding Oatlands’ presence of PGA Professionals combined with the COVID burst has strengthened the club’s position.
“The club was very good at attracting members but the attrition rate was very high,” Howe concedes.
“COVID increased participation to the level that the club was able to – and had to – make some decisions around capping the membership to make sure that the members that we did have were able to get bookings.
“We thought in a best-case scenario we might reach those membership caps in a six-month period from when we implemented it in October last year and we reached our caps in six weeks.
“As a result of that we have seen at our recent renewal that ended on March 31 a 30 per cent decrease in the resignations forecast and we’ve got quite a few plans in place to try and improve that even further in the year ahead.”
Knowing that data shows members who engage in lessons are far less likely to resign their membership in that same year, Howe brought his staff out from behind the counter to actively engage with the members.
And take an active interest in the enjoyment that members are experiencing when they come to the club.
“Now that we have six PGA-affiliated staff members we can actively engage with a far broader cross-section of our membership and reduce the risk of them resigning,” says Howe, the club adding Jason Park and Paige Stubbs in part to improve communication with the large Korean membership and the female members within the club.
“We have now engaged Retail Tribe to implement a program in conjunction with our golf pros that will see each assigned care groups that they are responsible for making contact with and tracking that engagement.
“That will enable us to more easily identify who are the most at-risk members of potentially resigning their memberships and address that accordingly.
“We’re very focused on making sure that this isn’t just a sugar hit but a long-lasting upside for the club and changes the trajectory of the club for many years to come.”
